Thursday, September 20th

Weekend What’s What: 9/20-9/23

by staff

Fall is in the air, and it’s making us all nostalgic. So this weekend, we’re revisiting some past eras – in the form of the Walker’s new exhibition on groundbreaking film, “The Renegades: American Avant-Garde Film, 1960-1973,” a rare screening of Queen’s concert documentary, “Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest ’86,” and the return of the long-dormant noise-rock band Swans. We’re ready to get sentimental with Instagram photo show “View Like Memories,” darkwave night Perish’s two-year anniversary, and techno night BLACK’s five-year anniversary (which doubles as a farewell when the series discontinues after this month). But we are also looking toward the future, particularly in the form of the fall edition of Minneapolis-St. Paul Fashion Week, which kicks off this weekend, showcasing fall 2012 and spring 2013 collections from our bevy of local designers and shops. So grab your sweater and cozy up to the weekend.

xo, l’étoile

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

“Afternoon Delight”

@ TuckUnder Projects
5120 York Avenue South
Minneapolis

Opening reception 6-9 pm, runs through October 21 / FREE

TuckUnder Projects new group exhibition “Afternoon Delight” features work by six artists exploring themes of memory, domestic space and the fetishized concept of suburbia. Alexa Horochowski, Andy Messerschmidt, Jason Pearson, Neal Perbix, Erika Ritzel, and Kurtis Skaife utilize personal artistic media and more expansive installation based processes to influence viewer perception and create a collectively interactive atmosphere that distorts comfort and is at once illuminating and mystical. Co-curators Jehra Patrick and Scott Stulen are interested in exploring the aesthetics of collective, domestic experience and the memories that linger on our personal possessions. Each artist in the group addresses this theme differently, by creating personal association and repulsion with subversively presented household objects and subtle domestic voyeurism. If you’ve ever browsed a garage sale and wondered at the hidden lives contained therein, this exhibit will speak to you. -Anthony Enright

For those of us who only knew Stan Brakhage as a bit player from Trey Parker’s Colorado gore fest Cannibal: The Musical, the Walker opens a comprehensive collection of avant-garde marvels from the 1960s. Led by figures such as Brakhage, Ernie Gehr, Hollis Frampton and Gunvor Nelson, these “renegades” of the Walker exhibition took their cues from influences ranging from the early 20th century surrealists to what Kenneth Anger (Scorpio Rising) was doing in his Hollywood Babylon, breaking film free from constraints of narrative and attempting to capture something purely abstract and new. The endgame of these experiments was, however, an attempt to capture personal and emotional human experiences and sensations that heretofore had been limited by the established paradigm. The rhythms and images accomplished by these films remind us how much more room we have to explore in the secret language of film, inviting us to see more both outside and inside. In addition to the exhibition is “Unwrapping History: Films From the Collection,” screenings of individual films in specific areas, including Bruce Baillie’s Castro Street (1966), Brakhage’s Mothlight (1963), Frampton’s Lemon (1969), Gehr’s Serene Velocity (1970), and Nelson’s My Name is Oona (1969). The Renegade Exhibition opens Thursday with a free opening night reception and screening event and lasts through early January. -Niles Schwartz

Truth: if I could resurrect one dead rock star, I would skip the obvious touchstones – Morrison, Hendrix, Lennon, Cobain – and go straight for Freddie Mercury, and I bet the aforementioned would be okay with that. My money says he’s got the best set of pipes in the history of the form, and the band’s classic albums – more of ‘em than you think – stand up there with the best stuff by your Zeppelins, your Beatles and what have you. That said: in ’86, the band was on a bit of a downswing, but live, they were still in top form – and this film is indeed one of the best live documents of the band out there, filmed in Budapest in front of actual rhapsodic Bohemians. If you’ve never seen the might and majesty of Queen, you haven’t lived yet, folks. -Jon Hunt

Because we could not stop for death, it kindly stopped for us. We’re referring, of course, to that live literary marriage of traveling episodes, Literary Death Match – not the cloak and dagger routine. Boasting an evening of four writers, three judges, two rounds, one epic finale, lit-nerds galore, and one of the most entertaining printed-word throwdowns you’ll see all year, Literary Death Match’s returns to the Twin Cities for its sixth year of knock-down, drag-out competition of wit, comics, absurdity and the writer’s ruse of charm, hosted by LDM co-creator Todd Zuniga. Judges include an all-star cast of locals: author/LDM champ Peter Bognanni, writer/musician Dylan Hicks, and comedian/polka musician Mary Mack, who will judge works from four local word pugilists — who will read their own work for seven minutes or less — including poet Heid E. Erdrich (winner of the 2009 Minnesota Book Award for National Monuments), story slammer/author Lara Avery, book blogger Patrick Nathan of Mill City Bibliophile, and R. Vincent Moniz, Jr. Get there early – the event doubles as the release party for Lara Avery’s Anything But Ordinary, and the first 125 guests gets a free copy. -Juleana Enright

Basuketto, an improvisational project founded by Mark McGee and Ben Clark, had a very impressive residency most recently at the Red Stag. Each night included an improv set as well as always amazing cover set that gathered together a very talented group of friends and fellow musicians for some amazing collborations. From groups such as Poliça, Zoo Animal, Lookbook, Votel, Dark Dark Dark, and A. Wolf and Her Claws, this night will feature lots of special guests, including Nona Marie, Holly Newsom, Maggie Morrison, Aby Wolf, Nicole Tollefson, Grant Culter, Chris Bierden, Joey Van Philips, Drew Christopherson, Adam Marx and more. This night at Icehouse will be a special extended session with two sets of covers and one set of improv. Not to be missed! -Danielle Morris

Why chose between a night of dancing and an evening of live shows when you can have your cake and dance with it too? Kitty Cat Klub-hosted monthly series Perish rotates the best in live local post-punk, new wave, death rock, minimal synth, industrial and experimental – and everything else under the darkwave umbrella – bands with DJ-spun tunes of the same caliber. This month’s two-year anniversary edition is a special one, featuring a stellar lineup that includes a live set from Minneapolis’ ‬slow-synth,‭ ‬melodic dark rockers ‬CLAPS and Kraut-synth-ambient act Wet Hair. In between sets, prime yourself for a feast of uber-dark dance-floor worthy tracks from DJ Goatclaw. The shadows are you friend. -Juleana Enright

The word “supergroup” gets thrown around a lot in our own local scene, so it shouldn’t be too surprising to find out that other musical hotbeds have their own tightly-knit music scenes with their own supergroups. The punk rock haven of Denton, TX’s version of that is High Tension Wires, which features members of Riverboat Gamblers, Mind Spiders/Marked Men and Bad Sports and play a gritty, blistering, lo-fi version of good old pop-punk that can’t be argued with. Local punkers Gateway District (which features members of the beloved Soviettes, may they R.I.P.) and Teddy & the Turks, plus the decidedly poppier Baby Boys, open. -Jahna Peloquin

For their latest show, local photogs Emilie Hitch and Nikolas James Perez are putting down their cameras and picking up their cell phones. Some photography purists may decry it as a travesty unto the art form, but we say it’s a unique exhibition exploring the camera phone and its brethren apps – Hipstamatic, Camera + and Instagram – as a medium, as well as the idea of the camera phone as instant diary capturing our memories in an increasingly instamatic, digital age. -Jahna Peloquin

With a room full of 1,000 fashion lovers it will be hard to pick out what to wear to the Envision event. An 11-segment, two-part fashion show, live painting, tempting cocktails, glam décor and fall’s latest looks, there is no reason to miss this night. Designers including Amanda Christine and K.Jurek as well as local shops Cliché, Local Motion, Drama, martinpatrick3 and Roe Wolfe will be showcasing their latest fall looks. As if going out in your best digs isn’t reason enough to step out this MNFW how about helping others? There will be a silent auction with all proceeds going to Free Arts Minnesota, a program that brings art into the lives of at-risk and abused children. Charity is always in style. -Alexandra Katz Click HERE for more MSPFW events.

Actual Wolf is the solo endeavor of Eric Pollard from the awesome Retribution Gospel Choir, which is, sadly, mostly known as an Al Sparhawk side project. Unfair – drummer Pollard’s a magnificent songwriter himself, and his terrific Lightning & The Wolf CD is chock full of powerful, folk-and-country-tinged songwriting that alternately resembles Paul Williams and Neil Young, if you can imagine such a glorious/unholy combo, all ripping guitars and aching sensitivity. Opener Ben Lubeck steps away from his equally cool Band-esque band Farewell Milwaukee (check out their When It Sinks in LP from last year – it’s great) to deliver a solo set. -Jon Hunt

Definitely not a show full of sunshine and rainbows, tonight’s Fine Line event pairs veteran noise-rockers, Swans with avant-garde dark post-punkers Xiu Xiu. Swans’ recent album, The Seer – the second after Swans founding member Michael Gira relaunched the dormant group in 2010 – boasts a perfect capsulation of the legendary band’s musical evolution and a testament to Gira’s unwavering genius. From industrial-tinged noise-rock to drone-y, transcendent, relentless art rock and bursts of atmospheric folk idles, it’s obvious the band is pushing an anti-reunion sound and focused not on repeating the past but marching forward into sonic progression. Fans of Swans will recognize the band’s signature eccentric orchestration and choral vocals, welcomed by updated elements and nontraditional instrument variety. Head down early to catch a live set from despair experimental group, Xiu Xiu. In the words of Jamie Stewart, “dear God, we hate ourselves.” -Juleana Enright

If the name Toussaint Morrison is new to you, you haven’t been paying attention to the local hip hop scene. After spending a decade of fronting live hip hop bands The Blend and Lazlo Supreme, the genre-bending, charismatic, deep-voiced MC has gone solo – albeit to join forces with the producer Dr. Wylie. The collaboration has spawned a couple of mixtapes – last year’s Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Homeboy, and the newly-released Toussaint Morrison Is Not My Boyfriend. Sheeped and Chrome Lotus open.

Sometimes when we hear the organ-loving synths of local band Phantom Tails, our mind cast back to the late, great Don Knotts and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. It’s something about the ghostly and mysterious organ music…Believe us, there’s a correlation. Tonight, pay ode to Mr. Knotts and organ tune as you catch Phantom Tails tonight, who’ll be joined by Enola Gay, while sporting the same love of cut ‘n paste samples, have a far more move-your-ass sensibility. Formed from the ashes of the Chelsea Boys, the band sports a dance-floor influence that comes from their love of big, colorful beats and electronic sound clusters. UMAMI (all caps) fit with them perfectly, playing a similarly distorted, electronic based music, heavy on the live percussion and the rock and roll posing, almost like a darker, danker Talking Heads. It’s a solid lineup if there ever was one. -Juleana Enright/Jon Hunt

You know what you can never, ever have enough of? Catchy, soul-petting indie-rock. Friday night at Hell’s Kitchen marks the official release of the their latest EP, as well at their final show. Yes, the garage rockers are calling it quits after releasing a lauded, Chris Dorn-produced full-length, Wondrous Punch, last year. They have the kind of sound that brings you back to the very best of the early ’90s while sinking their teeth solidly in the metallic indie sounds of the 2010s. Openers the Central Division will help them say farewell. -Staff

Local DJ collective WAK LYF bring sexy back (did it ever really leave?) to the Kitty Kat Club with an evening of out-of-this-world, sci-fi-drenched fun times. Their “Strobed and Probed” dance party will have you working up a sweat as the WAK LYF DJs Neuport, Jim Frickle, Cobra Blood and special guest Genoa 2001 spin face-melting dance tunes. Be sure to get there early to cash in on $3 PBR Tallboys, $2.50 Hi-LYF tallboys and $3 rails before midnight. -Staff

All right, sure, there’s a slew of dance parties around town ever weekend, but the monthly Wants Vs. Needs is nothing to scoff at – especially now that they’re celebrating year number three. The ultra-talented crew of Wants vs. Needs DJs Espada, Booka B, So Gold and Petey Wheatstraw guarantee a no-frills night of hip-hop, disco, and R&B that should appeal to vinyl heads and those simply looking to get their groove on alike. -Staff

Noon-6 pm / All ages / Zinefest is free, after party is $3-5 suggested donation

It’s back! That one blessed day of the year where the Twin Cities celebrates those who slaved over hot copiers for the sake of do-it-yourself art. Yes, come one, come all to the TC Zinefest. Prepare to buy a zine, swap a zine, make a zine friend and be amazingly overwhelmed by the eclectic array of locally-made zines. This year’s fest features 60+ exhibitors including faves C.L.A.P., Sam Hoolihan, and Ladyquest and appearances from Flat Mtn. Press, Fly Away Zine Mobile and Boneshaker Books. Plus, check out awesome additions like a pop-up table for artists who either didn’t get a table or only have one zine, a demo from the crafty folks at Screen Printing on the Cheap, the release of the 2nd Twin Cities Zinefest Encyclopedia and yummy food from touring vegan chef Josh Ploeg. For extra zine saturation, don’t miss the Zine Mixer at Boneshaker Books on Friday from 6 to 9 pm or Saturday’s post-Zinefest after party at the Seward Cafe. Schmooze with your fellow zine-makers and zine-enthusiasts, munch on more treats from Chef Ploeg, warm your DIY lit-loving bones by a cozy bonfire, and enjoy live sets from local bands Diva 93, DNR and the Velveteens. -Juleana Enright

In the first stop of their 14-city tour before returning for a homecoming show at the new Lowertown Bedlam Theater, local theater collective Eternal Cult will be performing their latest production all with the help of an opera-singing Greek chorus. In a nod to classic Greek tragic plays and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this original production written by Bedlam Theater regulars Savannah Reich and Jon Mac Cole balances the doom and gloom by positing its protagonist as a cute, fluffy cottontail rabbit named Jonathan as he struggles against a run of very bad luck. In addition to the sure-to-be-stellar playwrighting, the show also features original music and set design. -Jahna Peloquin

In a celebration of the old and the new, “Vintage Did It First” highlights current runway trends and then recreates them with vintage looks. It’s amazing to see how much inspiration modern designers pull from the classics, and Blacklist Vintage proprietor Vanessa Messersmith has a great eye for finding sartorial parallels that span decades. Blacklist Vintage is an incredibly well-edited vintage shop, so it’s a delight when Messersmith brings her curatorial and creative vision to a runway presentation. If the event is anywhere near last year’s display, it will no doubt be a can’t-miss MSP Fashion Week event. Be sure to get there early, as space is limited. -Beth Hammarlund Click HERE for more MSPFW events.

Join Minnesota Opera and Tempo as they celebrate their Golden and Silver Anniversaries. But this isn’t your grandparents’ anniversary party. After the opening night performance of Nabucco, partygoers will be taking over the James J. Hill Library for an event featuring music by Midnight Mo Experience, tasty snacks, and a cash bar. Opera appreciators, as well as the cast and crew of Nabucco, will have the chance to dance the night away in their sparkly finest. As their invitation states: Black tie admired, not required. But hey, how many chances do you have to break out the evening gown and the penguin suit? -Beth Hammarlund

Yay for the Ritz Theater for being one of the coolest/most interesting venues in town to hear music. Not just the home to the innovative, irreverent dance troupe Ballet of the Dolls, the Ritz has been doing some cool, usually avant-garde rock shows as well, like tonight’s interesting lineup, which celebrates the Ritz’s birthday. The Western Ridge play just what they sound like – twangy, country-inflected indie stuff, pretty as hell. Walker Fields play super-kick-ass slide guitar ass-whoop, just two guys and a hell of a lotta energy. L’Assassins are dangerous as fuck, like the Dum Dum Girls’ evil, Cramps-i-er, badass sisters, smoking and drinking and loving their way into your hearts. (This show will also serve to debut their music video for “Backseat Bomp.”) And the Blind Shake are pure garage incineration, like a goddam nuclear bomb of fuzztone. -Jon Hunt

Happy Twin Cites Funk and Soul Week! Saturday night is a celebration of the release of the Secret Stash Records compilation Twin Cities Funk and Soul: Lost Grooves from Minneapolis/St. Paul 1964-1979. It’s an amazing double LP which unearths some of the forgotten gems from another era that used to keep people moving and grooving on the dance floor many decades ago – names and faces from our own backyard that maybe never made it to the big time in the R&B and soul scene back in the day, but certainly should have. This show brings back together some of the original artists from the comp to play live, including Wanda Davis, Willie Walker and Maurice Jacox, plus members of the Valdons, Prophets of Peace, Willie and the Bees, Band of Thieves and The Exciters. It’s sure to be an amazing night of music like you never seen before – and you might not be able to see again. Hotpants DJs spin in between sets. Click HERE for a live clip of the Valdons performing “Love Me, Or Leave Me” on the Current. -Danielle Morris Click HERE for Jon Hunt’s track-by-track review of the compilation in this week’s We Will Funk You.

Let a Saturday night of old school funk and soul continue on the West Bank after the Twin Cities Funk and Soul All Stars blow your mind at the Cedar. Walk directly across the street to the Nomad World Pub for the Hotpants 5 year anniversary party. They’ll be spinning all the best deep soul and old school R&B to keep you dancing and moving for the rest of the night. It’s all the music you didn’t even know you liked to dance to – rare Soul, and deep funk 45s spun by the Hotpants resident DJs, Dale Burback, Rambo Salinas, Ben Mena and Brian Engel. -Danielle Morris

Fire in the Northern Firs have enormous buzz going for being one of the best/most interesting shoegaze combos in town – their music couldn’t be dreamier, blending twangy guitar figures, Krautrock rhythms and Carin Barno’s amazingly ethereal, witchy voice (seriously, think Coven’s late 60s stuff). Haven’t heard a note of the new LP, but their last, Field Guide, was terrific, dark stuff, perfect for fall evenings and candlelight and dancing naked in cornfields. There’s a huge buzz, too, for openers Wiping Out Thousands, who are about to release a new album of their twitchy, fuzzed-out electro pop. Hollow Boys are – well, think Velvet Underground/Strokes, minimalist and totally sweet, and Clap Chapel are damn promising, playing guitar-y, slightly dissonant, shouty pop with maximum energy. -Jon Hunt

It really doesn’t get much odder than Beta Male LA-based recording artist Ariel Pink. Looking a little like the grunge alien love child of a long-lost ’70s glam rocker and Kurt Cobain, Pink succeeds in doing what few can: producing Lite-FM-esque rock that makes us feel more than a little dirty. From his underground origins making lo-fi mix tapes in his basement to the mainstream popularity of Picasso pop masterpiece “Round and Round” which launched him into the hearts of hipsters everywhere, Pink has kept a wicked air of coolness and stony affectedness about him. Pink’s latest album, Mature Themes, the follow-up to the breakout LP Before Today, features a cache of vocal melodies and mouth percussion elements (yes, we said “mouth percussion) and includes a gorgeously catchy cover of the classic Emerson brothers song, “Baby.” One peep of the eccentrically cheesy VHS rom-com romp video for “Only in My Dreams,” and you’ll definitely need see what Pink has up his sleeve for his live show. Opening sets from L.A.’s “Ambassador of Boogie Funk” Dãm-Funk and underground musician/composer/virtual atmospherist Bodyguard. -Juleana Enright

Vampire Hands drummer Alex Rose and country music blogger Nikki Miller recently got hitched in South Dakota, so for all their pals who missed out, they’re hosting a hometown shindig. This is one all-star wedding reception – bands on the lineup include Bombay Sweets, the twangy one-man outfit from Nathan Grumdahl of Selby Tigers fame; Robust Worlds, the lush, experimental solo side project of Alex Rose’s brother/VH bandmate Chris; shoegazer three-piece Gospel Gossip; and an all-girl cover band. Hot Roxx DJs – Jen Hughes and Nikki Miller – will play their signature mix of “the best and worst” of power pop, punk, country, and psych rock from the 1970s and beyond in between sets. -Jahna Peloquin

For those of you who were in the house for The Weeknd’s debut Minneapolis sell-out show last spring, you were in one of two camps – one that clearly took wunderkind singer Abel Tesfaye to be the Internet generation’s D’Angelo, and the one that showed up out of curiosity to see if his sound would translate from his massively popular, out-of-nowhere mixtape House of Balloons (and its two subsequent, relatively sub-bar mixtapes) to the stage. On one hand, he delivered – albeit minus D’Angelo’s abs – with true showmanship, and certainly had the ladies swooning. Live, his best tracks from House of Balloons (his dark take on Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Happy House” and the darker-yet tracks “What You Need,” “High for This” and “Wicked Games”) were the only to really pop live, though his cover of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” gets an honorable mention. This just-announced show at the smaller Skyway Theatre venue is just as likely to sell out, so nab up tickets while you can. -Jahna Peloquin

Tonight, join the electronic DJs of BLACK for the darker side of First Avenue’s Saturday dance party – and we mean literally. Named for the black walls and floor of First Avenue’s Record Room, BLACK is a weekly showcase of some of the best EDM and techno music, both local and non. This month, they’re celebrating five years all month long with a month of parties. Sadly, it doubles as a closing party of sorts, as we just got word that First Avenue has discontinued the series. This week’s edition features a night dedicated to the guys who’ve been making the night happen every month for the past five years: resident DJs Aaron Litschke, Mike Gervais, Jesse Jakob, Matt Veloce, Jobot and Slow Derek, holding down the house one last time. -Juleana Enright/Jahna Peloquin

The final week of the Minneapolis Film Society’s David Cronenberg series, “The Baron of Blood,” features his overlooked masterpiece of dueling ideas, A Dangerous Method. A sparring match and bizarre love triangle involving Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), Cronenberg and writer Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) weave a drama involving the century’s ideological architects, creating the human condition as they discover it. Several viewers, trying to pass themselves off as film-savvy, dismissed the film’s talky-ness as proof of stagy-ness (a similar hollow accusation was hurled at Cronenberg’s latest marvel, the criminally under seen Cosmopolis). But the epistolary framework of A Dangerous Method, with most of its selected words drawn directly from the principle characters’ actual letters, reinforces the idea of people themselves being texts to be read and deciphered. As I see it, A Dangerous Method is a more clever (and superior) cousin to Christopher Nolan’s Inception, where ideas are powerful and resilient parasites, altering the hidden and interior mental worlds of individuals, creating an alternate reality that wants to come out and wreak havoc, something conveyed by cinematographer Peter Suschitzsky’s terrific close-ups on faces, seeming to jut out of the screen. Some Cronenberg fans think the period nature of the material is opposed to his bio-horror roots. On the contrary, the film is a brilliant new variation on the director’s “New Flesh.” The monsters are there, but they’re unseen. Monday night’s screening features Oscar-winning writer Hampton in attendance, with a Q&A following. -Niles SchwartzClick HERE to read Niles’ full review of the film on the Niles Files.

Manny and Jennifer Castro are celebrating ten years of wedded bliss with a bands-and-bowling anniversary bash at Memory Lanes – and everyone’s invited. The lineup includes the chilly, lo-fi, Brit-synth-influenced CLAPS, which recently released its latest, Glory Glory, exclusively on tape cassette; Fire in the Northern Firs, which have enormous buzz going for being one of the most interesting shoegaze combos in town, full of dreamy guitar, Krautrock rhythms and Carin Barno’s amazingly ethereal, witchy voice. The rest of the night includes the heavy sounds of darkwave, industrial shoegazers Oaks and the glammy garage rock of Hollow Boys. -Jahna Peloquin/Jon Hunt